Thai Villa

This restaurant is closed as of 2006. Thai Villa was the best Thai I ever found in Portland in the 14 on and off years I lived here. Other than Tiger Becs in Dublin Ireland, it is the best Thai I have ever had. I was devastated to discover that they closed following my return from being on the east coast for a year even though before I left in 2005, I knew the business had been hurt by being bumped off of the lake (they put a parking lot where his restaurant had been). The new location on Highway 43 just couldn't draw the business it used to. It looked like a diner. This Thai food was so outstanding. Everything was made by the owner's wife who I encouraged to write a cookbook with her recipes. You would order and you could hear the meal being started in the wok in the kitchen. Best red-hot homemade chili I ever tried. They were selling it. Excellent vegetarian options. My favorites were the salad rolls, phad thai, tom kah soup and the tofu with bean sprouts which even for all my attempts have not been able to duplicate. If anyone knows if the restaurant or owner opened elsewhere, please tell! more

The food is great. This place is very flexible when it comes to adjusting the level of spice for a customer's palate - they have EIGHT levels of heat! It's really good food for moderate prices, but the ambience leaves much to be desired. I would recommend you get the food "to go". Pros: Great Food, Great Service, Adjustable spicyness Cons: Tacky interior more

I have had better thai elsewhere but the man who owns the place is very accomodating. Their coconut ice cream was fabulous and I love their noodle dishes. I mean where else can you get 5 degrees of spice? Its kind of pick and choose when it comes to their dishes but their Me Grob Lardna was excellent. Pros: parking, staff more

Extremely limited lunch menu! This would not be a problem except that the item I ordered, the Veggie Curry, was a joke! The lunch menu costs $5.95. I ordered the Veggie Curry with tofu and they said they would have to charge me an extra $1.00 for the tofu. I looked at them funny but figured, if it's good, I won't complain. HA! The dish showed up on a miniscule dessert dish and the curry was the blandest ever! Also, the only "veggies" in the curry were tiny pieces of cauliflower, broccoli, carrot and cabbage. The worst part was the $1.00 extra tofu I ordered was not even fried with the veggies. It came cold and mushy and white as can be. There is something to be said for chains. I.E. Thai Orchid. Now there is a restaurant Thai Villa should take lessons from! Pros: nice waiter Cons: Too many to name more